GUEST ARTIST RECITAL
Otis Murphy saxophone
Haruko Murphy piano
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone
Sunday, October 13, 2024
5:30 pm
Recital Hall
(1984)
Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
and Presto, op. 108 (2000)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) arr. Ryota Ishikawa
James Barnes (b. 1949)
Ishikawa (b. 1983)
Otis Murphy holds the position of professor of saxophone and chair of woodwinds in the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, joining the faculty at the age of twenty-eight and becoming one of the youngest faculty members in its history. He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having performed in more than twenty countries worldwide across four continents, North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Murphy was a prizewinner in the Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition of Belgium and the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France and has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium, Merkin Hall (New York City), Casals Hall (Tokyo); Palau de la Musica (Valencia); and Muziekgebouw aan het Ij (Amsterdam). Murphy has performed on more than fifteen recordings, including four solo albums receiving critical acclaim. He performed Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet with Pacifica Quartet on their album, Contemporary Voices, winning the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/ Small Ensemble Performance.
Murphy has taught at music schools and festivals worldwide including the Paris Conservatory, Amsterdam Conservatory, Cologne Academy of Music, Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival, London Royal College of Music and many more, and his students have received awards and have careers as performers, educators, and members of premier military concert bands. Murphy holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, receiving the Performer’s Certificate accolade, and he studied in France under a Fulbright Fellowship at the Conservatoire National Régional de Musique in CergyPontoise, earning the Prix de Perfectionnement à l’unanimité.
Murphy and his wife, pianist Haruko Murphy, live in Bloomington, Indiana, and are dedicated parents of their six children.
Born in Japan, Haruko Murphy moved with her family to San Jose, California, when she was 14. She received the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in piano performance, both with Highest Distinction, from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler. In addition, she
studied at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, Netherlands as a pupil of Jan Huizing. Murphy received many prizes as a solo pianist and now enjoys performing actively as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician. Specializing in the repertoire of the classical saxophone, she has appeared in concerts with numerous internationally renowned artists including saxophonists Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Arno Bornkamp, and the Masato Kumoi Saxophone Quartet, and her husband, Otis Murphy.
Ricardo Martinez maintains an active performing and teaching career in Northern California where he serves as assistant professor of practice in saxophone at University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music.
Martinez has been featured soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, Stanford Summer Symphony, University of the Pacific’s Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Cergy-Pontoise Wind Ensemble in France and the Mitaka City Orchestra in Japan. In addition, Martinez regularly performs with symphonies and at festivals including the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Classical Tahoe Music Festival, Sun Valley Music Festival, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and has recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County.
As an educator, Martinez has been invited to teach and perform at Stanford University, California State University Summer Arts, the Indiana University Summer Saxophone Academy and has given masterclasses internationally in Japan. Martinez is a Yamaha Performing Artist and is endorsed by BG France and Legere Reeds.
This recital is supported in part by
